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Youghiogheny - 3. Upper

Youghiogheny, Maryland, US

3. Upper (Sang Run Road to Friendsville)

Usual Difficulty

IV-V (for normal flows)

Length

9.9 Miles

Avg. Gradient

52 fpm

Max Gradient

140 fpm

National Boof

National BoofPhoto of Ratt Boy (KHCC) by Boris Glick taken 06/05/04 @ 2.3'

Gauge Information

River Description

AW continues to manage the Sang Run put-in for the MD-DNR; your donations at the put-in are
vital to our continued access successes on the Upper Yough (see below).

Predictable summer releases make this one of the main playgrounds for Eastern Class-IV and
Class-V boaters. The rapids are continuous, technical, beautiful, and intoxicating. The intense
crowding brought on by rafters and kayakers during a Saturday release only serves to increase the
challenge, and add to the aura connected with this gem of a river.
The putin is at Sang Run (see map), at a public MD State access (parking fee) field. Don't be
undressing in public or leaving your dog at the parking area, or you could pay a legal cost.
Worse, you could be angering the neighbors--and history shows that we need bad publicity like we
need a hole in the bottom of our boats.

Upper Yough Donations

American Whitewater signed an agreement in June 2001 with the state of Maryland to manage the
Sang Run access on the Upper Yough. We are currently looking for sponsors to maintain this site:
to keep the job johnny pumped out and the grass mowed. But until then, we need your donations to
maintain it. Put an amount that you think is fair for your level of use into the brown fee box at
the parking lot. If we don't cover our expenses it goes back to the state, and they will be
forced to use more coercive methods for getting payment. (Thanks to Charlie Walbridge for
providing this information...and for everything else he does for rivers!)

The rapid descriptions given below are for the typical summer release level of 1.9-2.1' (on the
Sang Run gauge; Sang Run = Friendsville - 1.25). Some lines will vary at other levels. The reader
is of course cautioned that this description is no substitute for judgment, knowing who's leading
you down, and etc. (Read the disclaimer!)

The trip begins with about two miles of flattish water. If you begin at the start of the release,
you're liable to "outrun the bubble," i.e., to get ahead of the water. It's fun to head
down and wait at Wait Rock. When Wait Rock is getting covered by water, it's a good idea to put
your uneaten cookies back into the drybag and get into your boat while you can. After a short
pool is Gap Falls. (See the rapids descriptions, below, for more.)

After all the rapids, it's nothing but three miles of Class-I-II drudgery. Take out on river
left, after the bridge in town, onto Mountain Surf's property. Please follow the rules: no public
consumption of beer, use the changing rooms behind Mountain Surf, no raucous music--please
respect the local residents, and they'll respect you.(Thanks to John Kobak for many helpful comments and suggestions re. the rapid
descriptions.)

Directions: To takeout: from I-68, take the Friendsville Exit (the westernmost exit in
MD). If you're coming from the West, bear Left at the fork on the off-ramp, and take a left at
the stop sign. Cross under the bridge and take your first right. (If coming from the East, take a
right at the end of the off-ramp.) This gets you onto Maple Street. Drive a few hundred feet and
park before the bridge, which is right next to Mountain Surf, the takeout point.

To putin: Head back out of town back toward I-68. Take a left onto Rte. 42. Continue on 42
about 4-5 miles and take a right onto Bishoff Rd. Head about 2 miles on Bishoff, and at the
four-way intersection, head right onto Sang Run Rd. The putin is a small grassy and gravelly lot
on the left. (If you get to the bridge, you've gone too far.) Park and remember to put a couple
bills into the till for your good friends at American Whitewater!
Another nice online guide to this section can be found at Gorp.

Rapid Descriptions

One of the easiest "named" rapids on the Upper Yough, a (roughly) ten-foot slide into a hole. Start left of center, and work your way right into the big eddy at the bottom. The hole is playable, but it's trashy and shallow. An alternate line is to catch the Eddy of Death on river left, halfway down the slide. If you miss the Eddy of Death, there's a nasty rock ready to mess with your head; even if you catch the Eddy, you'll have a devil of a time ferrying across the river above the shallow hole. Just upstream of the slide are some very fun play holes.

This rapid, which marks the end of some class-III boogie water, is recognizable by a midriver rock which has a tree atop it. Also, as you approach it, a bare rock face is visible on the mountain above the river. Head left and get set, because the rapids of the Upper Yough are just beginning!
The normal line at Bastard is to boof right into an eddy just behind a (mostly) dry rock. It's a fun and easy boof. Then work hard left, avoiding ledge holes, before working toward a big eddy at the bottom on river right.

(Named for Charlie Walbridge. At 3.0', Charlie's Choice was...to walk out.)
The "normal" line begins on river left, with a ferry just above a hole toward an eddy in the middle, and then the paddler heads left again. Running Charlie's on river right all the way is the highly technical "Slots" line, which leads the most intrepid paddlers into Mel's Toilet Bowl, an undercut that you don't want to mess up. Persons of a moderately adventuresome bent (me) can begin on the left, head for a 6-foot boof on the right (be sure to avoid the rock at the bottom!), and then finish the rapid in the middle right.

The Slot at Triple Drop

The Slot at Triple Drop

Photo of Ratt Boy by Matt Muir (KHCC) @ 2.3 ft

Triple Drop follows immediately after Charlie's Choice. The first drop involves two easy ferries into an eddy in the middle. (Alternate route: a very narrow fifteen-foot-long slot [see photo]; if you run this, commit carefully but forcefully to avoid pinning on the upstream face.)
From the center, the next drop is a steep drop through squirrelly water into a hole. The most sensible line is to work toward river right, coming within a couple of feet of the rock at the bottom right and into the eddy below it. That sets you up for the third drop of Triple Drop: National Falls.

The Standard Line at National Falls

The Standard Line at National Falls

Photo of Bryan Koster by Matt Muir (KHCC) taken 07/03/95 @ 2.0

National has two main lines: river left (photo) has a fairly straightforward "S" turn, catching a tongue just left of a truly impressive hole. River right is the Boof Line, which is one reason that spectators congregate. Miss that boof, and the hole's gonna make you its girlfriend. Though the hole does let go of the inverted boater, many good boaters lose their cool and go for a swim here. (Lucky for them, it's one of the few places on the Upper Yough where a swim is short and inconsequential.) The rock on river right below the drop is a congregating place for play-dogs to get their fix of rock splats.

(Named for Tom McEwan.)
After the pool following National Falls comes Tommy's Hole. The fun here is in the "Slot Move." Described by some as "Dimple with an Attitude," it requires a right turn through a hole just above a nasty-looking undercut rock. Soon afterward, there's a steep ledge (Little Niagara), for which the good line is tough to see; if you get the slight leftward angle here, you should be fine. The rest is boogie water.

The whole rapid is down the left side of the river. There are at least two routes to avoid the two offset holes. Far left is the most trouble-free; if you choose to go right of the first hole, beware the big, bad undercut rock in the middle of the river. It's then all III boogiewater before Heinzerling.

One of the finest flatspinning holes on the river. It puts Swimmers on the Lower Yough to shame. When it kicks you out, don't try too hard to get right of the rock below. You risk being pinned, so you might as well go with the flow, which is left of the rock.

Time Warp

Time Warp

Photo by Matt Muir (KHCC) @ 2.3 ft

The "normal" line here is to slip through a gap in the rocks on far river right. That sets you up for the Gun Barrel, followed by the Heinzerling Move. The Gun Barrel is a four-foot ledge drop; just stay right and ride the V. For the Heinzerling Move, head for the huge rock directly in the center of the river. Aim left as you ride up on the pillow, and drop down just downstream of the left hole. It's a unique ride, and among the most fun rapids around.
A little more challenging (and considerably more dangerous) is the Time Warp (photo), which involves going left of the flat rock in the middle of the river. It's full of pinning possibilities.
After Heinzerling, you can relax for half a mile of Class III before Meat Cleaver.

The "Cleaver Brothers" are two pointy rocks which are inconveniently placed at or just above water level amid some very fast water in a blind drop. The ferry move (far right to left) requires some precise positioning to run well; the ledge drop (middle right to left) risks a working in the pourover. In either case, once you're committed to the fast water, line up between the rocks or to the left or right of one of them. Try not to be running this one upside-down.
At this point, if you're getting weary, be assured that you're more than halfway home. It starts getting easier, though there are places to keep on your toes.

Powerful Popper

Powerful Popper

Photo of Colins Drozdowski by Matt Muir (KHCC) @ 2.3 ft

After some more boogiewater "The Rockies" comes Powerful Popper. The normal move here is an S-turn between two boulders. The hole is an ender spot, but be warned: 1) it's a little bit trashy, especially if you get kicked into the river-right eddy line; and b) it's kind of blind from upstream, so extreme care is required if you want to avoid an unfortunate collision. An alternative line at Powerful Popper is the "Death Slot" to the left of the normal slot move. It's probably not as dangerous as its name implies, but it requires an exacting line of those who want to run it cleanly.

Tombstone!

Tombstone!

Photo of a log up against Tombstone Rock by Matt Muir (KHCC) taken 05/04/01 @ 1.6 ft

After a couple of flatspinning holes, followed by a small pool, comes, for propriety's sake, "Lost and Found." Most boaters call it by a name that is most politely referred to as "F-Up Falls." This rapid includes the notorious Tombstone Rock, an extremely undercut slab. Fortunately, the line to avoid this death trap is pretty easy: go between the rocks, and make sure you finish right of the big center rock. After that, F-Up Hole looms in the middle of the river. It's as trashy as its name implies, perhaps especially so at higher levels like 2.2' or better. Avoid it to the left or right.

A small (10-foot) waterfall. Safest is probably to go a couple of boat lengths away from river right. More fun is to come in close to the right bank, have a boofing angle (to avoid a rock at the bottom--this one can vertically pin an unsuspecting boater, so watch out), and grin like a demon for the photographer.

Backender begins with a cartwheeling hole on river left. If the water's above 2.1', or if your boat's below 9.0', this one is worth waiting in line for. Local experts like Jess Whittemore, in long, light glass boats, wow the crowd by attaining this puppy, doubtless an impossible feat in any plastic boat. Just after the hole is the heart of the rapid: a fun little Class III, S-curving rapid with alternating ledge holes into the bottom hole.

(Named for Jackson Wright, reputedly the first one to swim out of this hole without getting hurt.)
This one is easy to avoid, most easily on the far left or right, and it's playable at most levels but be warned it is VERY shallow.

It's pretty easy to read-n-run. Most fun is to clip the right edge of the first hole, which (if you do it just right) sets you up to clip the left edge of the second hole. If you do it just right, you practically go airborne.

Just the last decent flatspinning hole on the river. At some levels, it will be grabby in its most vicious maw (ask Luke); but you should be able to get out just fine.

User Comments

2015-06-22 06:17:22 (41 days ago)

Curtis37 (156912)

Curtis Warner I ran an Aire Sabertooth with a frame an 8'oars down the Upper Yough on friday 19
June 2015. The level was 3.70 friendsville guage. It was a tight fit in a few places. What a great
river. Beautiful scenery.

9.58 miles for the upper yough. First three miles are flat, losing a total of 15 feet, 5 fpm. Gap
Falls is about mile 2.6 on the maps. Mile 3-4 = 33 feet. 4-5 = 126 feet 5-6 = 83 6-7 = 170 (mile 7
ends at Kendall on the maps, Topozone give this mile 130) 7-8 = 40 8-9 = 40 As we all know, that
last mile is flat.

Hi, I just want to clarify two things. 1) At Gap Falls, there is an almost-river-wide hole, so
virtually everyone rides the tongue down the far left with a left-to-right angle. 2) Above Bastard,
the river turns almost 90 degrees left. Then---and this is very important---below the boof move,
there are severely nasty midstream pinning rocks, which are potentially fatal if you screw up. Go
left or right, but not down the middle. Use caution! Watch for strainers!

Taking advantage of the fantastic Thanksgiving weekend weather, a few of us made some "low water"
runs down the UY. The Friendsville gauge was 2.87' on Friday, and 2.81' (38 cfs less) on Saturday.
We managed to stay in our boats Friday but were knuckledragging for a bit, especially on the
flatwater between the put-in and Gap Falls. Saturday, we had to walk about 50 yards. I'd recommend
3.0' at Friendsville as the low water cutoff. There was a noticable difference in the flatwater
between the two runs, and some minor changes to the rapids. Overall, we had fun, the trips seemed
much more relaxed than a usual release, and it was nice to see clear green water with white peaks
instead of the usual muddy brown stuff. On a side note, Deep Creek Hydro had Noon and Midnight
releases 3 days prior to the holiday weekend. Why couldn't they have waited? :-(